A fourth man received a suspended sentence of 18 months for his
involvement in the network, which offered warez – software that has
been stripped of its copy protection – over the internet.
DrinkorDie was shut down in 2001 after an operation involving
the
FBI
, the
US
Justice Department and
several international police forces. It was at the time one of the
most successful warez groups in the world, best known for its
release of Windows 95 a few days before Microsoft's official
release.
According to the UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit
(
NHTCU
), which carried out the British end of the
investigation, the group classified members in four categories in
order of importance and responsibility: Leader or co-leader,
Council, Staff, and general membership.
Council and Staff members generally were the most active in the
group's "release" work – the process by which the group distributed
software over the internet in violation of copyright laws. Members
designated as "suppliers" provided new software to the group often
days or weeks before the software was commercially available.
Once software was supplied, highly skilled "crackers" would
permanently defeat its copyright protections, thereby allowing the
software to be illegally reproduced, distributed and used by anyone
obtaining a copy. The "cracked" version would then be tested,
packed, and rapidly distributed over the internet to an
ever-expanding collection of illegal internet sites.
Cracked software released by DrinkorDie has been found on
pay-for-access web sites in the
US
, China and
elsewhere, says the
NHTCU
.
The international investigation began in October 2000 and led to
over 70 search warrants being executed in Australia, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, the
US
and
UK
. To date
it has resulted in custodial sentences of up to 46 months in
Australia, Norway, the
US
and now the
UK
.
"This was a complex investigation which involved the Unit
working in partnership with law enforcement colleagues across the
globe," said Detective Superintendent Mick Deats, Deputy Head of
the
NHTCU
.
"We are sending out a clear message to people who may wish to
commit these types of crime that policing is matching them every
step of the way, to ensure we protect individuals, business and
government from all forms of hi-tech crime," he added.
Beth Scott, Vice President,
EMEA
, Business Software
Alliance commented:
"DrinkorDie members helped create a software black market worth
millions of pounds. These individuals were not naïve teenage
hackers but adults with seemingly responsible jobs. We would never
rejoice in anyone going to prison but we do not accept their
defence that this was a victimless crime - their actions clearly
contributed to a major piracy problem that impacts jobs, the
economy and the businesses and consumers who benefit from
innovation."
The sentences handed out on Friday by Judge Focke are:
- Alex Bell, 29, a former IT manager for a multinational bank,
was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years for conspiracy
to defraud.
- Steven Dowd, 39, was convicted and sentenced to two years for
conspiracy to defraud.
- Mark Vent, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and was
sentenced to 18 months.
- Andrew Eardley, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and
was sentenced 18 months (suspended for two years).
